Merseyside Police will next week be asking Wirral Council’s Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee to start a four-week consultation on designating all of Birkenhead as an area where the police can confiscate alcohol from people in public places. The police state that their request is due to 128 incidents of alcohol related antisocial behaviour between January and July of this year, twelve of which also involved violence.

There are already two areas of Birkenhead which are already alcohol free zones. The first includes the Pyramids, Birkenhead bus station, Woodside bus station and Hamilton Square. The second area is the electoral ward of Prenton.

If Wirral Council designates all of Birkenhead as a “Designated Public Places Order” then the police will have extra powers in public places to stop people drinking and confiscate their alcohol. If the person refused by either failing to stop drinking or handing over their alcohol they could be fined up to £500. Licensed premises or clubs and the land are not classed as public places for these purposes.

Merseyside Police say they have the support of police officers, police community support officers, local businesses and local residents in calling for this. There is a petition signed by four hundred and twenty-six people asking for this larger alcohol free zone. The report to the meeting and maps of the proposed and existing alcohol free zones has been published on Wirral Council’s website.

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